MechWarrior: Shadow Company Return of the Clans
by G Fox
Summary: Welcome to the sequel of the original! This takes place ten years after the end of the first one and involves the restart of the Clan invasion. This is my second story but I'm still new, so go easy on the reviews, and please, no flames!
1. Chapter 1

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Hello! If you have never heard of me I am G fox. This is my second story blah, blah, blah. If you have heard of me and were one of those to review my original story… Yay! I have fans! Well, not exactly fans but you get the point. And now prepare for another stupid intro by that random guy who shows up for no reason in my stories.

**Chapter 1**

_You know the story concerning the start of Shadow Company. Now you shall hear one about their long term campaign against the Clan's return. Almost ten years since the armistice was signed between the Inner Sphere factions, houses, and the Clans, Shadow Company has turned its strict training regiment into a way to make money. Fox McCloud founded the Joint Republic-Vulparian Combat Training Academy as the prince of the Vulparian Empire and Knight of the Sphere, not as commander of Shadow Company._

_Shadow Company has created a legacy amongst all war torn parties, as has the JRVC Training Academy. Those seeking powerful mercenaries come to Outreach seeking Shadow Company at their new home; the complex surrounding the JRVC Training Academy. To explain this Fox merely says they have a long term defense contract with the academy._

_It is now only a few days until the armistice comes down, and new missions will be thrown at Shadow Company from all sides. Let us begin…_

Fox observed the simulated battle between Megan McCauley and another trainee by the name of Jeffery Schrader. They were being watched by the entire academy on drop-down screens that broadcasted scheduled simulations across the complex. Thanks to his upbringing, Fox attempted to simulate the camaraderie seen in Clan sibko life in this training facility. Each trainee was taught to be honorable, both in the Clan sense and the Vulparian sense, and blows to honor called for a battle in the simulators. Each combatant was given a randomized force with similar strength ratings and told to decimate the opponent.

This, was one of those battles. Jeffery was a sexist as well as a racist, believing only human males should go into battle because they were superior to all others in life _and_ combat. He made a point of displaying these thoughts every chance he got, and this time they had stung someone who was willing to fight back.

Fox looked on as Megan, in nothing heavier than a Raven, ran circles around Jeffery in his Catapult. She darted around in her customized light Mech, using its only weapon, a Heavy laser, to burn deep scars into the much heavier Mech's hide. She had stripped everything from the Raven and had its chest modified to hold the Heavy laser. She used the remaining weight to fortify and speed up her already fast Mech, making it fast enough to outrun missiles and chase down any Mech in existence, and giving it enough armor to last longer than most light Mechs, and several medium Mechs.

She darted behind the Catapult to punch one final laser into the compromised rear armor that protected the reactor. The Vulparian made simulation made it look exactly like something that would happen in the real world; flames burst out of the holes in the Mech's armor, slowly burning and eating away at the insides and armor of the Mech. With one final heave the Mech lifted off the ground as the jump jet fuel lit, then the heavy Mech fell to the ground in nothing more than a smoking heap of twisted metal.

Fox gripped his microphone he used for announcements across the complex to announce the results. "Game, set, match, to Megan McCauley." He set down the microphone and watched as the two trainees emerged from the simulators. Megan looked happy, and Jeffrey looked like he wanted another match. In fact, that was exactly what he wanted.

"You cheated! I don't know how but you hacked the system to make my weapons move slower!" He accused, stalking over and towering above her. He was easily eight inches taller than her, being six foot two inches and her only five foot six inches.

"How could I? I don't even have access to the simulator when I'm in it." She stated calmly and began to walk away.

"I want a rematch! Now!" He grabbed her by the arm, apparently forgetting that there were Elementals constantly on guard to prevent the trainees getting hurt. The closest one picked him up by the shoulders, putting just enough pressure to paralyze the young man without breaking anything.

"Student Schrader. Unless you want to be expelled from this school I suggest you leave student McCauley alone. And if you bother her again, well, I just told you what will happen." Fox said over the loud speaker.

The young man sighed, allowing the Elemental to put him down, then leaving with anger written across his face. Fox sighed. "Why did I let that House Steiner family talk me into training him? All he does is complain and say I'm incompetent. Oh well… it can't be helped now."

He left the simulation room to head down to the briefing room. He had scheduled a meeting with his command staff and now, thanks to this little argument, he was late. He didn't think the others would mind; now that he ran this training complex he was always late to meetings. The door opened automatically after scanning his retina.

"Glad you could make it to your own meeting Fox." Eric joked lightly. "Saw the fight… pretty nice. If you ask me I'd say Megan will make a fine warrior."

"I agree with that Eric. Now, on to the business at hand. As you well know the Clans are mobilizing their forces in preparation for an all-or-nothing assault against the Inner Sphere and The Republic. We have the support of Clan Wolf in Exile, as well as Clan Nova Cat, I believe. That makes two Clans we don't have to worry about. There have been rumors that the Smoke Jaguars have managed to come back to a respectable level of combat readiness; probably only a few Binaries to a Cluster at best. I have also received information that a new Clan has entered the field. I believe it's called Clan Coiled Viper."

"Great… that means two _more_ Clans to deal with. That doesn't do anything to help us number-wise." Cory stated.

"Yes, I know. But it can't be helped. We've been called in by the Exarch to hold two worlds he believes are in danger of falling. We'll most likely end up fighting several battles with the Clans. That means we have to follow their rules or risk touching off a 'Grand Melee' as they call them. If that happens, we're evenly matched and there'll be no telling if we win or lose."

"Damn… I always did hate those things." Eric remarked quietly. Since his little bout of unconsciousness ten years ago he had become more open about his past life as a Wolf Clansman.

"So did I when I worked as a tech for Clan Wolf… so much damage and the warriors hollering at us to get their Mechs fixed faster. Ugh… let's try not to start one of those, alright?" Everyone nodded their approval of this plan quickly.

"When do we leave, Fox?" Alison asked, eager to fight again after five years as a noncom.

"As soon as the graduation ceremony is over tomorrow." He answered. The briefing was dismissed and Fox, Alison, Cory, and Eric met up in Fox's room to choose who would be graduating this year. Meaning 'who has met the company standard'?

Fox stocked the best selection of drinks in one location in his room. Eric poured himself some authentic Terran vodka from Russia and Cory got a glass of straight bourbon. Fox poured Alison and himself some Vulparian wine. Vulparians are hypersensitive to alcohol, and so are Nekonians, hence why Vulparian liquor is made with very little alcohol, only a few drops per bottle at most.

Fox handed his feline friend the glass of wine and sat down to review notes taken by the computer and on little pieces of paper the instructors kept just for that reason. Obviously not all the students on the complex would be graduating this year, only about ten percent of the personnel there.

As they finished the selection they split off and headed for their own rooms. Fox cleaned up the late dinner they had ordered and curled up in his bed. He slipped into a deep sleep soon after.

Over the years of contact with Clan Nova Cat warriors, several people in the company had begun having visions. No one understood why they were having these visions, but they were usually proved true. Fox had one of those visions that night, in it a black, shadowy fox battled against a knight with blue gauntlets and a hammer that sparked with lightning. By the end of the vision the fox had defeated the knight, but had taken an enormous wound that blood flowed from like a river.

"Ah!" As he awoke he jumped out of bed and grabbed his katana that hung next to it. He was panting, and his fur glistened with sweat. "Just a dream… just a dream." He sighed, breathing deeply to calm himself down. He sheathed the blade and pressed his palms together, breathing deeply as he slowed his heart rate.

As he calmed down he donned his armor, flipping the visor up so his eyes were visible. He walked calmly down to the Mech hanger, jogging most of the way there as it was a little way away. He scaled his Griffin in only ten seconds and opened the hatch. As he strapped into his command couch he realized the rest of the complex had woken up. MechWarriors straggled into the Mech hanger to mount up. He waited for them to power up before starting for the ceremonial landing zone.

As they got to the landing strip, where aerodyne dropships landed, most of the trainees had already lined up according to size. Infantry took the front, vehicles were behind them and Mechs were in the far back. Aerospace craft danced across the sky, trailing colored smoke according to how long they had been in the Academy and what superficial rank they held. Fox and his friends stopped at the end of the landing strip and turned to face all the trainees.

"Front face!" A sergeant called out and immediately all the units, except wheeled vehicles, spun in place to face their commanding officers. Fox pulled up the sheet he had made last night and loaded into his Mech's computer.

"Listen up! These people have been selected to move to the next level of training." He went through the list of names quickly. "Now, for those who are graduating this time round." Again he went through the list.

As the final names were called the rest of the trainees started hollering and shouting out congratulations to the others who had moved up. That was when things turned bad. "How dare you not even mention my name!? You worthless bastard! I told my parents foxes were only good for hunting, they should have listened, and not sent me to this, this… piece of shit! I am the best damn Mech pilot here, why don't you let me go and give me the damn diploma!?"

"Because you don't deserve it. If you have already forgotten I believe Megan defeated you yesterday." Fox stated calmly, though he activated his weapons even as he said it.

"She cheated! I would have won had she not hacked the simulator and slowed my weapons! I'll prove it!" Weapons fire opened up at this statement, honing in on Megan's cockpit.

An Atlas raised its arm to block the pulse lasers headed towards the cockpit. Jeffery moved in order to fire his missiles towards her but she was already gone. She raced in behind him and melted a hole in his armor. Fox had been generous in the simulator, giving Jeffery's Mech more armor on the rear than it had in the real world. The Heavy laser burned through the armor and punched into the reactor. Dampeners tried to activate but Jeffery slammed on the override button, thinking it was just trying to shut down due to a remote trigger.

Instead the reactor bulged and exploded. The rest of the trainees watched as fire erupted from the hole in Jeffery's armor, and as that fire blew out the cockpit shield. The Mech fell to the ground with a thud in a heap of metal almost exactly like the one in the simulator. It was then that he realized that his dream last night was actually a vision of what was to come.

"Fox… this could have severe repercussions in the future. He was from a…"

"Yes Eric… I know. He was from the Schrader family, one of the most powerful when it comes to influence in House Steiner. We will be made a target… soon I fear."

"You had the vision too Fox?" Alison asked on the way back to the Mech hanger, catching him completely off guard.

He composed himself before answering. "Yes… I saw… a fox battling a knight. You saw the same thing?"

"No… well, not exactly. My vision held a black cat trying to fend off a knight with a…" She started.

"Hammer with lightning coming from it?" Cory asked, catching them_ both_ off guard. "If that's what you're talking about then I think we all had a version of that vision, right Eric?"

"Aff…" He replied quietly, reverting to his Clan Wolf days for a moment and then returning to normal. "I mean yes. My vision showed a large wolf fighting that same knight."

"What about you Cory? What was fighting the knight in your vision?" Alison asked curiously.

"Me? Uh… another knight, one with black armor." He responded after few moments.

"I think I understand now…" Fox remarked.

"What? What do you understand?" Cory asked, suddenly curious as well.

"It's kind of obvious. In mine it was a fox, in Alison's it was a cat, in Cory's it was another knight, and in Eric's it was a wolf. Those are our token creatures, in some cases even our call signs. It means we're going to be going up against House Steiner at one point or another, probably with StormHammer support."

"Damn… that would mean we will be facing forces on two fronts, quiaff?" Eric stated, again reverting to his Clan life.

The others were confused for a moment on how to answer before Fox answered. "Aff. We could use your friends' support in this Eric."

"I shall try and get Khan Phelan Ward to side with us. We _are_ a mercenary company though, and Clansmen feel we have no honor. He may not even agree to see me, even if I am a former wolf." He added after some thought.

"Do everything you can Eric. Any help you can get us will be well appreciated by The Republic, and the Vulparian Empire at that." Fox said as he powered down Kyouun's reactor. Eric was the first out of his Mech and out the hanger, he had a mission to complete as fast as possible.

"What was that all about?" Cory asked as they regrouped at the hanger's entrance.

"Eric seems to be reverting into his Clansman mind for some reason. Perhaps that vision startled him into reopening painful memories and thoughts. Cory, try and stick with him, help him if he needs it but don't make it look like you think something is wrong. I'll give all of you a crash course in Clan etiquette later."

They split up for the rest of the day to get things done that only they could do. Alison talked with the graduates and most of them agreed to join the company.

**End Chapter 1**

Hope you liked the first one! Expect more to come quickly also! Review responses!

Tremble Wolf: First, hot-cycling is where you quick charge energy weapons in order to fire them more rapidly than normal. Doing this heats up the Mech a lot faster than waiting for the reactor to slowly charge the weapon, and I'm not sure but using logic I'd guess that the hot-cycled energy is less powerful than that charged slowly. Next, I screwed up again… I didn't know the guidelines about ownership of characters and I thought that since the characters were based on my friends and they thought up the actual characters that they owned them and not me. My mom however has told me that ownership means they weren't in an original story and therefore they are mine. Sorry for confusing you buddy.

Next review; Good for you! I would have given you mine but I don't know where you live, and I'm not allowed to give out my address so that also screwed up my plan. Also, you don't know about hot-cycling because I don't think they put that feature in the games. I only found out about it because I read it in the novels.

Thank you for reading this first chapter of the new story. And now for the quote… yes I'm still gonna try and do this quote thing every chapter; so send me some new ones! I'm running out! Help!

"If you're ahead of your platoon, they know something you don't."

REVIEW ME! Sorry… meds wearing off again… damn.


	2. Chapter 2

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Hello and welcome to another chapter of MechWarrior: Shadow Company; Return of the Clans. Damn that's a long title. I shall now refer to this story as just Return of the Clans to make it easier on my poor school damaged brain… yes, school actually damages my brain, but I'm able to repair it while I'm asleep. Only problem with that is I only have from after school to nine to write this thing so… Anyway thank you for reading the first chapter and joining us for the second one.

And now for a little disclaimer: I own (probably) any Mech in this story that you have never heard of and I am forced to describe to you in the actual story. Although most of them are based off other Mech-like war machines. If you can guess the inspiration of each Mech I come up with in this story… I'll give you something. I don't know what though. To the chapter!

**Chapter 2**

Following Eric

Eric stepped into the HPG station in his old Clan Wolf uniform, prepared to speak with Khan Phelan Ward of Clan Wolf-in-Exile about supporting Shadow Company forces in protecting those planets assigned to them by the Exarch. Since the Vulparian technicians had been commissioned to repair the HPG grid two years ago almost seventy five percent of the grid was back online, meaning the newly built facility on Outreach could contact the one on Arc-Royal, where Clan Wolf-in-Exile made their home amongst the Kell Hounds.

Remembering this, Eric was filled with hope. The Kell Hounds were also a mercenary company, and for Clan Wolf-in-Exile to accept them as allies meant they did not absolutely hate mercenaries like many Clans. He walked calmly towards the front desk, hands clasped in the small of his back. He noticed he was getting strange looks as he reached the desk where a young lady sat typing into a computer. Before he was able to speak she addressed him. "Your name and business please." She hadn't even looked up from the computer screen as she spoke.

He fought over whether to say he was a Star Captain of Clan Wolf or a Lieutenant Colonel of Shadow Company for a moment. "Lieutenant Colonel Eric Herald of Shadow Company ma'am." Shadow Company had actually funded the construction of this facility, so he figured saying he was high up in the company would hasten their actions.

He was right. The girl, he could now see she was only a teenager, shifted from her computer screen to look at him directly. "W-we have your station re-ready s-sir. O-over that way." She stuttered, nervous about making a good impression with the man that might be here to judge the station's performance.

He nodded and smiled, heading over to the station she had pointed towards. He looked at the non-too-private seat he was supposed to sit in and sighed, before the lady that would have normally been watching the transmission from within a closed room emerged and offered her place to him. He smiled to her to and walked into the small black room.

The only light that illuminated the room came from the waiting terminal. A small icon appeared in the light blue background of the screen as he sat down, showing he had a confirmed connection to the station on Arc-Royal. He sent his burst transmission soon after sitting down, asking the receiving station to alert Khan Phelan Ward that he had a transmission waiting for him.

He waited for only ten minutes before a fuzzy image faded onto the screen. It cleared up quickly and Eric could clearly see the Khan's face looking calm and serene, startling him for a moment since the Khan would be very busy as the new assault was near. "Yes, who wishes to speak to me?" He asked calmly, unfazed by the fact that the transmission was coming from Outreach.

Eric sat up straight in his seat and tried to look as military as possible. "Khan Phelan Ward of Clan Wolf-in-Exile. I am Lieutenant Colonel Eric Herald of Shadow Company, or if you wish you may call me former Star Captain Eric Wolf… of Clan Wolf."

"Ah, I see. What is it you wish to speak about Star Captain Wolf?" He seemed calm, not uneasy about speaking to a mercenary; Eric felt he at least had a chance to get some help in this new war.

"My Khan, Shadow Company has been asked to defend two planets from the Crusader assault. I am here to… request assistance from the great Clan Wolf."

Khan Ward looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "I have heard of this Shadow Company. Heard many things in fact. You fight with honor not seen in any other mercenary unit. While most mercenaries are considered dishonorable amongst the Clans, you are one of the exceptions. We have accepted many of your trainees into our warrior caste, and all have proven to be exceptional. I believe we could fight alongside your forces in battle." He reached for the cut off switch but stopped just before pressing it. "I will name you the commanding officer of the forces I send to help you, on the condition that Shadow Company not send in our wolves in place of their own warriors. Do you agree?"

"Aff, my Khan." Eric replied quickly.

"Well bargained, and done. Good luck, Star Captain Wolf." _Now_ he pressed the switch, disconnecting the two HPG stations and returning the computer screen to its original light blue color.

Eric breathed out, relaxing for a moment. After a few moments he emerged from the room and approached the front desk. The teenager was still very nervous, shown by the fact she hadn't touched her keyboard since Eric had left her. He started pulling out his card in order to pay for the transmission. She jumped slightly before saying. "No, no! T-this transmission is fr-free of ch-charge, s-sir."

He nodded and thanked her. It was then that the manager stepped up to him. "Did you find our service acceptable sir?"

Eric faked looking thoughtful for a moment before replying. "Yes, I did. Good day sir." He left the manager smiling, happy that the station had passed what he thought was a major test.

Following Fox

Eric walked in on the briefing just as Fox was finishing telling everyone about the Clan's rules of honor and their customs. "So, how did it go? Did you manage to get Khan Ward to side with us?" Alison asked, careful not to use contractions.

He smiled and nodded. "He did not say how many warriors he would send however, so it could just be a single MechWarrior to aide us, though I doubt that." He added after a few seconds.

"Excellent. We should be better able to defend Kessel and Skye from the Crusader Clans' invasion." Fox said with obvious relief. He was nervous about this war they would be in. They'd have little to no reinforcements, and those reinforcements, unless they were the forces of Clan Wolf-in-exile, would be extremely under trained.

Suddenly the 'all hands to battle stations' alarm sounded, and an automated voice repeated that message three times before a new message sounded. "Initiate emergency lockdown protocol. All trainees report to lockdown bunkers. All combat personnel prepare for defensive operations. All defensive turrets are to be brought online within the next two minutes."

Fox hurried over to the command console in the briefing room and began typing and searching for what was happening. Finally he managed to get connected to the radar and planetary sensors operator. "What the fuck is going on sergeant!?"

"Sir! Incoming unidentified dropship, unknown class. Wait… they're trying to contact us… patching you in."

"…Shadow Company Colonel? I say again, can you connect me to the Shadow Company colonel?"

"State your reason for coming here and I might be inclined to speak before our anti-dropship turrets blow you to hell." Fox said angrily. This lone dropship managed to get past the entire Shadow Company fleet, that either meant they were good pilots, or had some kind of ECM system powerful enough to block a warship's sensors.

"Good to hear your voice my prince." This startled everyone in the room, as well as everyone else who happened to be listening. "This is Captain McClure of the Vulparian ship VRN Thunder. We bring new Mechs for the command lance of Shadow Company, fresh from the Vulparian factories and with weapons just approved for testing."

Fox ordered the lockdown aborted as well as the call to battle stations. He had to manually override the turret's targeting before the dropship got in firing range though. "You are clear to land on pad three."

The four members of the command lance left to check out the new Vulparian Mechs, being told that they would be getting one; the captain had also asked Megan to come for some reason. They arrived to see a magnificent ship in shining silver and gold, the colors of the Vulparian Royal Guard. Its four landing 'feet' as they were called, extended from the sides of the ship and came to rest perfectly around the small basin where plasma was designed not to burn through.

"Fox… what class is that thing?" Cory asked having never seen this kind of ship before.

"I… I do not know. I have never seen this class of dropship." Fox admitted, gazing at the numerous weapons prickling from the ship's hide.

The gantry fell to the ground at a controlled speed, stopping mere centimeters from the landing pad's ground. Fox led the command lance into the enormous hanger, seeing nothing of its cargo as a special energy field blocked light entering the Mech bays. A young Vulparian man stood near the gantry, waiting patiently for them to come fully into the hanger. "Welcome my prince. I bring you gifts from your brother. He wishes you to succeed in your war against the Clan Crusaders."

He started down the hanger, stopping at the first Mech bay that was shielded by the energy field. "Star Captain Eric, of Clan Wolf-in-Exile. The emperor presents to you…" Light flooded the Mech bay as the fox pressed a yellow button on a remote he held. "the Diamond Dragon."

The people assembled there were astonished as they gazed at the obviously Vulparian assault Mech. It resembled a tyrannosaurus in looks; with short arms that ended in sharp, three fingered claws and a tail that currently was loaded up inside itself. The cockpit was open and it looked like the top part of the skull had been placed on a hinge and opened. Two triple pronged weapons barrels were connected to the top of the bay, ready to be lowered into connectors in the Mech's back; they looked like they were designed to open into a triangle like figure.

"The Diamond Dragon is armed with three experimental Charged Particle Projection Cannons, just now approved for testing mounted on Mechs. With enough of a charge these things are supposed to punch through any human made armor, meaning if you do it right you can blow an Atlas to hell in one shot. Those three cannons are the only weapons this thing has, so if you lose them you will have to rely on allies or the Mech's claws. It is armored with Vulparian reinforced steel, giving it the power to pull through most human weapons with only a minimal amount of damage. The reactor allows it to power the weapons and some movement, but you can not outrun anything faster than a Daishi with a tiny reactor. Max. speed for this Mech is about forty Kph."

"Damn…" Was all Eric could manage, staring at his new Mech.

"Next we have Cory's Mech; the Knight's Blade." Again the light flooded the bay, this time revealing a humanoid Mech armed with a sword and shield. The shield had a spike protruding from the exact center, and on closer inspection it seemed like it was also designed to open and reveal a weapon; what kind of weapon they could only guess.

"The Knight's Blade is armed with two Vulparian heavy PPCs, one in the shield and one in the sword, and two Vulparian Heavy lasers that are housed in the back and can be brought forward at any time. As you can tell, the shield's spike opens into one PPC, and the sword also transforms into a PPC. It is also armored with Vulparian reinforced steel and has a lot of it. This design is not based on firepower alone and therefore is able to move at a much higher rate of speed; about eighty Kph."

"Nice." Cory remarked as they moved on to the next bay.

"Alison. For you we have a new type of Mech entirely. It's made to be either a quad Mech, or a bipedal Mech." The light flashed on to show a cat-like Mech. It stood on four legs, the front two of which had weapons mounted on them. The main weapons looked to be Heavy lasers, mounted on small turrets based on the back of the Mech. Small tracks led from the base of the turrets to next to the head, one on each side. "This is the Black Cat. The main weapons are Heavy lasers with two pulse lasers on the legs and another Heavy laser mounted in a concealed location in the tail. This heavy Mech can outrun most light Mechs easily, and has jump jets mounted on the sides to promote movement and allow you to dodge enemy fire better. It can only be transformed by a Nekonian and it will only be at peak performance when piloted by another Nekonian. As always it is armored with Vulparian reinforced steel."

Alison didn't say anything, just stared at her Vulparian made Mech.

They arrived at the next to last bay and the light burst on. Inside stood a bipedal Mech that's legs were double jointed, one normal and the other reverse. Its feet were like those on Jade Falcon Mechs, bird like claws. It stood four stories tall and carried a rifle at least three stories long, its muzzle touched the ground as the Mech stood there. "The Night Sniper carries a Vulparian super heavy sniper class gauss rifle that should be powerful enough to blow a hole in any other light Mech's hide. This Mech can move at one-hundred-fifty Kph and can jump several hundred meters in a single bound. The armor is able to sustain large amounts of damage and it'll take a real beating in combat. The Emperor cedes this Mech to you, Megan."

As they reached the final bay the escort spoke. "This is your Mech, my prince." The light flicked on to reveal a fox-like Mech painted in pure black. A large double-barreled rifle sat on a turret on the Mech's back and a cannon poked out from the tail. "The Shadow Fox. The second lightest Mech here. This thing can even outrun Alison's Mech. It has advanced Myomer that allows it to jump and dodge while still moving without having to turn the Mech. The main armament is a pair of Sniper class Gauss rifles that can reach as far as the eye can see. Basically if you can see it, it can be shot. In those rare cases one needs to run in this thing it has a Vulparian heavy PPC mounted in the tail. The front legs hide an arsenal of single use Vulparian Streak missiles. If you fire all those into a single target you can blow an Atlas to hell."

Fox smiled as he looked on his Mech. "Well, we should be able to take the Clans' forces with these."

"We also brought reinforcements to bolster your forces defending the planets. We have pilots for those Mechs so you needn't worry about finding people to pilot them."

Fox shook hands with the young Vulparian and thanked him. The Mechs were transferred to the Kitsune's secondary cargo bay (I'm messing around with stuff here. I'm making The Kitsune a true Overlord and giving it the power to carry all forty five Mechs. Since I can carry three lances of Mechs in a single hanger I've made the other two hangers backup and salvage/cargo bays. Hope that clears things up.) for the trip to their defensive assignments.

The lance headed to the command station again to set the computer's orders for the next day.

**End Chapter 2**

Hmmm. About average length for me. Nothing too important happens, minus the new Mechs. Trust me, the visions and the Mechs go together, and the Mechs _will_ be used in place of the old ones. Review responses!

Tremble Wolf: Thanks, he is kinda weird. And it is an honor to use your Clan. I think I answered the rest of your review in a PM so you should be good for a while.

Time for the quote. "Never share a foxhole with someone braver than yourself." Bye!

Review me!


	3. Chapter 3

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Welcome back to 'Return of the Clans'! Thank you for reading this so far and I hope you'll continue to read it for as long as I post it. Now for the story!!!

**Chapter 3**

Fox stepped into the JRVC Training Academy's command room, watching the organized chaos of the order he had just given. In short, it was the order that all trainees be inducted into Shadow Company in order to defend the facility from the very real threat of a House Steiner attack. Their sources had confirmed several Steiner Jumpships and at least one Warship on a rather elaborate route to Outreach. Mechs were being called in from the local Mech hangers and assigned to the individual trainees.

Also, any infantry and vehicle crewmen were also being given the stuff they would need to help defend the facility. Nearly all infantry were being given Elemental armor, and those that weren't were in Wraith battle armor. He nodded to himself, impressed at the level of cooperation amongst the instructors, comm. techs, _and_ students. He doubted that the newest trainees could combat a Clansman, but they should be able to deal with a few companies of Steiner forces; after all, they _were_ heavily protected by thick walls, thick doors, and hundreds of defensive turrets stationed in and around the facility.

Fox headed for the Kitsune's launch pad to prepare for the trip to their temporary home. He checked his baggage, making sure his katana and other weapons were there, and making sure he had enough clothes to last him a while. He could easily buy more at Kessel since human and Vulparian body structure wasn't entirely different, but he liked having Vulparian made clothes.

He dropped his bags off in his quarters and headed for the bridge to meet with the new captain. Captain Roberts grew tired of the Kitsune's not being able to jump, as well as not having much fire power to fend off enemy ships and boarding parties. Now she piloted the Kitsune II, a Vulparian fortress class warship designed specially for Shadow Company and Captain Roberts' skills as a captain.

The new captain was called Captain Lionel and he was a skilled captain from the Vulparian Royal Navy. He resembled Fox's grandfather, and he was one of Fox's teachers when he was back home in the Vulparian Empire. Those two facts had made the two good friends over a short amount of time.

"Ah, Fox! So good to see you again my friend." The old fox greeted him.

"Good to see you to Captain." He smiled, grasping his friend's hand in a strong handshake. They talked for a short time about the past until the alarm sounded for all personnel to prepare for launch.

Fox took his seat on the bridge and watched through the canopy as the ship leapt off its pad, shooting for the stars to meet up with the Kitsune II. The ship connected flawlessly and the Kitsune II powered up its 'warp drive'. It was called a warp drive because it created a small field of energy around the ship using it and literally warps the ship to another place in the universe as determined by a set of complicated coordinates. This type of space travel could, theoretically, create a field so powerful that it could warp the ship from one end of the universe to the other; all it would need would be an incredibly powerful power source, one thousand times more powerful than the most powerful Vulparian reactor.

The dots of white in the pitch-black-darkness of space that represented the stars morphed into beams of light that shot past the ship's bridge's Ferro-shield, fusing into a wall of pure white light that blinded everyone who could see it. The wall of light slowly began to calm down, turning back into the individual beams and then becoming the lights of stars far away once again. What would have taken a human Jumpship three months, only took the Kitsune II and her two escort ships a few minutes. The second fortress ship coming to this planet to help defend it arrived just a few seconds later, also with two other escort ships.

Fox left his seat on the Kitsune's bridge to go find his lancemates. It turned out they were also looking for him, so a long two hour search for each other occurred; until Eric spotted him checking Cory's room for what turned out to be the third time. Afterwards they decided to meet up at the briefing room, and to save time finding Cory and Alison they just sent a message over the PA system. Eric also asked Megan to come to the meeting; Fox asked him why, but he wouldn't say anything.

"Well, it is about time you two got here." Alison remarked as they entered the briefing room, again being careful not to use contractions around Eric.

"We had to get up to the bridge to make the message in the first place. _Then_ we had to get down here." Eric replied quickly. He looked over towards a corner to find Megan waiting, obviously very nervous about being asked to the meeting of the founders of Shadow Company. "Good, you are here."

"What I don… _do not_ understand is why you asked me here." She stated, brown eyes jumping between the four members of the command lance. Her brown hair was cut short, allowing her to see everything that was going on.

"I do not understand this either Eric. Why _did_ you ask her here?" Fox asked.

"Because Khan Ward has placed me in command of the Clan Wolf-in-Exile forces he is sending us. Meaning I will not be able to accompany you into battle as part of the command lance. I asked Megan here so I could tell all of you and her that I would like her as my replacement in the lance." He said quietly.

The others looked stunned. Their eyes shifted between Eric and Megan and back again. "Why me?" Megan asked.

"Because, you are truly a skilled warrior, one worthy of my place alongside these three. You show great promise in your simulated battles, and in the skirmish back at the training facility. All you need to do to best me is to gain some experience. I believe this mission to be perfect for you, as the warriors you shall be fighting are skilled but fresh; just the same as you."

Fox put a hand on Eric's shoulder, prompting him to turn around. "You are still a member of this company Eric. You will not be removed permanently unless you wish it. Until this mission is over then, Megan will take your place in the command lance." Fox assured him.

"Thank you Fox. Khan Ward has expressed his worry that you might send his warriors into battle in place of your own. I know you would not do this but I still need to hear it from your mouth." He said, turning into the Clan warrior he once was completely, leaving behind any trace of the friendship that they held.

"Of course I would not do that. Your Clan's forces will be purely support, mixed in with the company's warriors in all major battles. I will not separate your warriors from ours." Fox could see the question of whether he would give an oath before it came; he did work closely with Clan warriors for much of his life after all. "On my honor, or I shall die in my sleep."

"Fair enough. Well bargained, and done. Thank you again." Eric turned to leave just before the alarms started sounding.

"What the…?" Fox began typing at a computer terminal in the briefing room to find that a call to arms had been issued because an unidentified Warship had just emerged from a jump. He keyed into the ship's frequency quickly to try and identify it. "This is the Kitsune II; please identify yourself and purpose for being here."

"This is the Wolf's Claw of Clan Wolf-in-Exile. Are you perhaps the forces of Shadow Company that we have been asked to support?"

"We are; thank you for arriving so quickly. We are about to begin our decent to the surface. How long until you are able to deploy your dropships?"

"One hour, perhaps two. Our Khan has only sent one dropship, with only one trinary to aide your company. It was all he could spare to help the defense of Kessel."

"Hopefully that will be all the help we shall need. Will the Wolf's Claw be staying to aide as well?" Fox asked, knowing the answer was 'no'.

"Neg. Khan Ward needs us to help back on Arc Royal. He did wish to ask if you offer anything for our aid."

"We offer our support in any endeavor Clan Wolf-in-Exile wishes our help." He replied quickly.

"Well bargained and done. We shall hold you to your word Colonel." The connection cut out as the others stared at the speaker.

"How did he know you were the Colonel?" Cory asked.

"I do not know Cory… I do not know. Captain, prepare to detach from the Kitsune II."

"Of course Fox. I shall alert the local government of our arrival."

Their arrival in their four dropships was welcomed by nearly all the residents in the city. Only those unable to attend had not shown up, and those attending to them. The four dropships touched down on the landing pads easily, sending a cloud of smoke out from beneath the ship and obscuring the cameras that had assembled around them. It seemed that the media was playing up their arrival as the Exarch's promise to defend the planet.

The gantries lowered and a pair of Fox armored cars with two Condors as escorts emerged from the vehicle bays of the Kitsune. Fox and his command unit were to meet with the planetary governor about the defense of Kessel and its residents. News crews filmed the small convoy leaving the space port and somehow managed to arrive at the governor's mansion before them.

Fox emerged in his standard uniform; black, baggy clothes with white highlights and a hat with slits for his ears. He also had on his Vulparian sun glasses that would look ridiculous on any human. The rest of his command team had come dressed in similar clothes, and the media later said it was part of why they were called Shadow Company. Two Elementals were let out of the second armored car, and they acted as escorts for the team as they entered the mansion. After the doors had closed they stood to either side of the magnificent oak wood doors that served as the entrance to the governor's home.

"Good to see that this unit takes security seriously." The governor greeted them. "Aren't you those Knights that seemed to go missing after the parade on Terra?" He asked as they removed their hats and sunglasses.

"Yes, though if you would keep quiet about that we would be most appreciative. And if you do not mind, we have Clansmen amongst us." Fox added with a look to Eric.

"I see. So, will there be any more forces arriving, or is this all?"

"Neg. Another Dropship will be arriving within two hours, carrying forces from Clan Wolf-in-Exile. They are here to support us in the defense of your planet." Eric stated quickly.

"I am glad that is all they are here to do." The older man sighed. "I hope we will have no need for any of your forces, but knowing our current location…"

"Indeed. I will need a list of any forces you have available to you, and any defense grids on the planet." Fox asked.

"My secretary can get those for you. What exactly are you planning to do?"

By know they had made their way to the command and control room of the mansion and Fox powered up the holoprojector, selecting the planetary map of Kessel. "We have a few days left before the armistice is lifted and the Clans come calling for battle. The plan is to build up any and all defenses on this planet, and build new defensive locations run by skeleton crews and computers. A few more places for the enemy to attack will spread their forces thin, allowing us to better withstand the assault and ultimately repel it."

"How will we be able to build all these in only… four days?" The governor asked as he watched Fox manipulate the map, selecting locations for defensive positions.

"The company has brought along several thousand technicians with the combat forces. They should be able to build the majority of these facilities and those they can not build they will at least make _fairly_ respectable in terms of combat effectiveness." Fox replied.

"How will we pay for these? I do not know how much the Exarch is paying your company for this defense but I doubt that he would authorize this kind of spending."

"Yes, he will. He has approved coverage of anything we need to build in order to defend this planet." Fox reassured him quickly.

"Well… if that is the case then have at it. I hope we shall be able to survive this assault to pay you back."

"If we have anything to say about it, you will." Fox assured him as he and the others put on their sunglasses. They left through the front door, the Elementals forming up in front of them to push aside the swarms of reporters and cameras. They got back to the Foxes and within moments they were on their way back to the Kitsune. As they were pulling into the city they watched as the Kitsune II and the other warships descended into the planet's atmosphere, using their wings to slow their decent and put less of a strain on the reactors.

"Excellent, we should be at a good combat strength in enough time to defend against the Clans easily." Fox remarked as he watched.

"This should be interesting to say the least." Eric added.

**End Chapter 3**

Thanks for reading! I started this one the moment I put up chapter 2 so that's why I got it done so fast. I have nothing else to say so it's time for review responses!

Tremble Wolf: Thanks! And about your question, yes, the tail is _slightly_ flexible. It can only be fired (and hit) when the Mech's back is turned to the target. Computers adjust the aim of the gun and allow it to fire. Even though the Mech is moving and, following the rules, the back end moves up and down, the computer allows the tail to remain in a single place and thus give it the power to hit the target. Hope that answers that question!

Quote time! I think I actually came up with this one, but I'm not sure. So tell me if I'm wrong. "When all else fails, use duck tape." Happy Thanksgiving! Review me!


	4. Chapter 4

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Fox looked on from his command couch inside the Shadow Fox. Since the cockpit was completely enclosed he had to watch through tiny cameras positioned all around the fox's head. He watched as the last defensive turret came online and began its swiveling pattern, searching for targets. "About time…" He mumbled.

"All turrets online and functional. Performing weapons check on last installed turret… Weapons check complete. Defense grid online and functional." The automated voice rang out. "Report received… planetary defense grid online and functional."

Alarms began blaring just as soon as the message finished playing, signaling only a few hours left before the armistice was lifted. They quieted down and Fox moved his Mech into the Mech hanger, parking it but leaving it on standby. He climbed down the leg of the Mech quickly, heading for the mess hall to grab something to eat.

He ate quickly and headed for the command room. The command lance was stuck with only one support lance of Mechs, and four of vehicles. Five companies of infantry were also supporting the defenses around this base. The staff of the facility were all militia from the planet, seeing as this _was_ one of the upgraded bases from the planet's original militia. Fox looked on as the Dropship launched from its make-shift pad, taking with it the Vulparian technicians who had built the defense grid.

"Don't worry Fox. Your friends will be fine on the Kitsune two. It is Captain Roberts we're talking about here." Alison assured him as he watched. Eric had left to defend the capital so the four were able to talk without watching themselves.

"Thanks. Looks like the Clans have come a little early." He remarked as he walked over to a beeping console. Sure enough several Clan ships had just jumped in-system and were approaching fast.

"Great… please don't come here first, please don't come here first, please don't come here first!" Megan started chanting; obviously she didn't want to go into battle this early.

"Megan… if they come here first we'll just have to call in some friends. We'll be able to hold, and the Clans will think twice about challenging our forces from now on." Cory told her.

"Exactly Cory." Fox picked up the planetary comm. system's microphone. "All combat personnel prepare for battle. Bring the turrets online." He ordered.

Affirmatives rang out from the various defensive stations around the planet and the warship guns stationed around the facility they were at began swiveling and preparing to fire. "Colonel. What do you want me to do up here? Engage them, or let them off easy?"

"Engage them Captain. Take down as many as you can before they reach the surface… what's this? Hold that order Captain." A static filled screen dropped down from the ceiling, clearing after a few seconds to reveal a Star Colonel of Clan Jade Falcon.

"This is Star Colonel Iesta Roshak of the Jade Falcons. Who defends this planet and with what forces does he do so?" The female asked.

Fox, having been the most trained in the ways of the Clans, responded quickly. "I am Colonel Fox McCloud of Shadow Company. I command the defenses of this planet and I intend to use everything I have at my disposal to do so. What forces do you bid Star Colonel Roshak?"

"Everything I have against everything you have… that sounds fair to me. We request safcon for our forces, Colonel."

Fox sighed. "Very well, however, it shall only apply to your dropships and unconverted jumpships. Any jumpships with weapons and any warships you have will be brought down by our defensive fleet."

"But… that would be all our jump worthy ships! You can not do that; we would have no way of contacting our brethren for help!"

"Exactly my point. If you wish to battle for this planet, you will have to do so with what you have; no outside help. By doing this I ensure that you honor your word of only using what forces you currently have." Fox stated. "Do you wish to rebid Star Colonel?"

"… Neg. We shall hold to our word. As soon as the Dropships are on planet… you may fire on our transports. But they shall fire… back…" The image of the Star Colonel looked to her left, and by using the camera Fox was able to watch as the Blue Diamond sailed past her ship, coming within inches of the Dropship she was onboard. "What… what class of ship is that!?"

"That would be an Orion class Flying Fortress, from the Vulparian Empire's navy. Your ships are outclassed, Star Colonel. Perhaps you would like to rebid now?" Fox was smiling, showing his fangs and looking somewhat like a madman.

The Star Colonel was obviously shocked by the ship's many weapons, and possibly scared as well; though Fox doubted she would let that show too much. "N-neg, we shall come for you Colonel; and we will win. Well bargained and done. Star Colonel Roshak out."

The screen retreated to the ceiling and Fox reestablished contact with Captain Roberts. "Captain, hold fire until the dropships have touched down on planet, then open up on anything they left behind. I don't want a single ship to be jump worthy after your attack."

"You got it foxy." She replied.

Megan started giggling as he cut the transmission. "She-she calls you 'foxy'?"

"Yes Megan. We need to come up with a call sign for you…" Fox stated, changing the subject.

"How about Karasu?" Alison suggested. "It's Japanese for raven and since that was your original Mech…"

"I like it. It sounds girly and yet may scare enemies simply cause they don't know what the hell it means." Cory added.

"Alright, I guess I'll go with Karasu for my call sign." Megan sighed.

Another console began beeping and Fox answered it. "Planetary scans show five Outpost class Dropships entering the atmosphere. Requesting permission to fire orbital defense gun."

"Permission denied soldier. Send the transmission not to fire on the Clan ships until they have touched down, and keep your turrets from firing at them also." Fox replied.

"Affirmative sir. Wait… sir! They're heading for your station sir! Repeat, enemy dropships are not splitting up, they are heading straight for your defensive station!"

"Shit…" Megan mumbled.

"Move! Everyone to your battle stations!" Alarms sounded immediately, as well as the 'all hands to battle stations' message.

The MechWarriors reached the hanger at about the same time, each climbing into their Mechs and powering up. Fox patched into the communications channel of the base in order to receive word as to what was going on. "Are they still in a group sergeant?"

"… Negative sir. Three Dropships are heading for the capital and Star Captain Wolf, and the last two are still coming after you sir."

"That is significantly better than all five of them… are their any more Dropships coming?"

"… Affirmative sir. I read seven more Outposts entering the atmosphere at different locations. Captain Roberts is reporting that a total of fifteen dropships detached from the Clan ships, and there aren't any more waiting to detach."

"That leaves three dropships unaccounted for… inform me the moment those other three enter the atmosphere sergeant."

"Yes sir! ETA to touch down is approximately… twenty minutes sir."

"Very good soldier." Fox commended the young man for knowing the next question on his mind. He switched over to the combatant frequency to give out orders. "I want infantry inside the base to protect against a foot invasion. Tanks will split up, two lances per lance of Mechs. Alpha one lance take Charlie two and Delta three lances inside the walls of the complex. Hopefully we won't need to lose all that many people to defend this place and teach Clan Jade Falcon how to fight."

"Yes sir! You guys heard the Colonel, move it!" The Predator that commanded Alpha one lance moved inside the base walls, followed closely by the rest of his lance and the two lances of tanks that Fox had assigned him.

Fox waited with the units he had assigned himself as the two Outpost Dropships entered their field of vision. A five minute countdown appeared on his HUD, displaying the milliseconds, seconds, and minutes remaining until the armistice was lifted. "And so it begins, again." Fox whispered.

"But it will end quickly." Cory assured him, his Knight's Blade stepping up even with his Shadow Fox.

"And we'll show the Clans they don't want to mess with us again." Alison added, her Black Cat also coming up even with him.

"Failure is not an option. We can't let the Clans get past us and take this planet." Megan stated, her Night Sniper coming up alongside Cory's Mech, rifle primed and ready to fire.

A few seconds later and a buzzer sounded, alerting everyone to the fact that the armistice was gone; and at that same time, the last Jade Falcon Dropship touched down on Kessel.

"Turrets, fire at will." Immediately every turret that had range on any enemy unit opened fire with everything it could. Calliope turrets released their compliment of missiles, letting the warheads slam into anything that could fight back. Laser turrets began sniping at anything with an unfriendly IF signal and ripping holes into armor. And up in space the Shadow Company fleet opened fire on and decimated the ships of the Jade Falcons.

"We wait for them to come to us." Fox ordered, checking his extended radar to watch the turrets rip into the Clan forces with a vengeance. "If all goes as planned, they won't even get here."

"I _really_ hope it goes as planned…" Megan mumbled, loud enough for her microphone to pick it up and transmit it.

However, her hopes were thrown aside as the first battered and bruised Mech came within eyesight. "It seems they made it past the turrets after all." Fox commented as he lined up a shot with his rifles. He aimed for the Linebacker's chest as it had been heavily damaged by the battle with the turrets. He merely twitched his finger and the twin gauss rifles fired. One fired a millisecond after the first, and the computer had adjusted the gun so that it would follow behind the first bullet and impact the exact same place.

That's exactly what it did. The first shell blew a hole in the armor the size of an artillery shell, ripping off the cockpit and definitely killing the pilot. The second followed soon after, bowling through what shielding the reactor had left and punching straight through the back of the Mech. The reactor, unable to keep stable after something that powerful, detonated immediately, dissolving the Mech in a blue and white fire. "Damn, Fox…" Alison remarked reverently.

"Nice one." Cory added as his shield and sword opened to reveal those two heavy PPCs. Sparks of electricity streaked up and down the lengths of both the spike and sword as a charge was built in the tips of the weapons. The sword was lowered to fire just as a Great Wyrm emerged from the fires of the forest where the turrets had been stationed. The white lightning leapt from the weapon, flying along a straight path to impact dead center with the Mech's torso. The power of the blast sent a shockwave from the impact center, ripping off more armor and crippling the Mech's reactor. The medium war machine stumbled a few steps backward before finally shutting down and falling over backwards.

"Very nice." Cory whispered.

"Let me try!" Alison said, walking her Mech up a few steps and took aim on a Huntsman. Her Heavy lasers charged for a second or two and let loose, converging just before hitting her target. The pure energy burned straight through the Mech's crippled armor, and the reactor, and the armor on the back. The Mech detonated instantaneously, sending giant shards of metal in all directions and leaving nothing where it had once stood. "Damn…"

Megan was still nervous about this battle but stepped up anyway. She raised her rifle carefully, aiming for a Blood Asp. She pulled the trigger, letting loose all the energy housed in the giant gun. Just as soon as the flames emerged from the gun's muzzle they could all see the great assault Mech fall face first, only problem with that was that it no longer had a head. "Whoa…" Cory mumbled. "It's almost like the bullet moves at the speed of light!"

Fox monitored the general frequency as the Clan commanders began calling a retreat. "We just can not take them! Not when they have those Mechs! Fall back, fall back! Return to the Dropship and call for support!"

"Move! We charge them now!" Fox ordered, his Mech going from standing perfectly still to moving at a full sprint in only a few seconds. His lancemates followed closely behind, Cory being the only one to have trouble doing that. They crested the ridge to find Jade Falcon Mechs and vehicles scattered around the remains of the forest. "Looks like the turrets did their jobs." Fox remarked as he made his way through the carnage.

"That they did…" Megan answered him, stepping carefully around a Shrike that had its whole right side blown open.

A Jade Falcon Ku rolled out from behind some of the remaining trees, coming to an immediate stop when it saw the four Mechs. Megan brought her rifle around quickly, starting a stand off between her and the tank. She ended it with a single shot to the front of the vehicle, blowing the entire front half of the first section clean off and turning it into scrap metal. "Damn… are these things explosive rounds?!" She asked afterwards.

The four Mechs and their tank escort continued towards the Outposts' landing sight. As they rounded a corner they ran into a Stone Rhino, apparently the Ku had alerted its friends of their coming during the stand off. The assault Mech fired everything it had at Fox's Mech, only to find it did very little damage. It cracked a few plates of armor and utterly destroyed the paint job, but other than that it did nothing.

Fox's return fire was much more effective. His two Gauss rifles did the same as they had before; firing milliseconds before the other to impact the same spot. And again they hit the same place, ripping through the Stone Rhino's left torso and blowing a hole in the rear of the Mech. The pilot wasn't used to that kind of power being unleashed on his Mech and the assault Mech toppled over onto its back. A Vulparian transport hovercraft darted from behind the Mechs and dropped off two Elementals, who proceeded to tear apart the Mech's cockpit and drag the pilot from his machine. It then let out a MechWarrior from the militia, who climbed up the Mech and took control of it, piloting it back to the base with a new IF signature. The Clan pilot was placed in the same transport as the Elementals and taken back to the base as well.

"Keep moving guys." Fox ordered, starting into a slow run so Cory could keep up. They reached the Dropship locations and saw that the turrets hidden in the mountains had been taken out, but not before doing some serious damage to the Dropships and combatants. A Raven spotted the four Mechs and sounded the alarm, drawing all combat units to its location. Alison put the Mech down in quick order, pumping her heavy lasers into the Mech's torso and crippling the Mech to the point it was forced to shut down. The Dropship's remaining guns turned to fire at them, the only problem with that was that the only things it had left were light weapons, so they didn't do squat to the advanced Vulparian Mechs.

"I want those Dropships guys, so don't blow them up. Transports, move in quickly and take those ships."

"Yes sir!"

Cory targeted a Canis as it emerged from the Dropship hanger. His PPCs charged up to full and he let them _both_ fly this time, intent on taking down the assault Mech in a single, massive hit. His computer wasn't as advanced as Fox's and so it hadn't been able to adjust for the two shots to intercept each other, but the effect was still amazing. One lightning bolt struck the shoulder of the Mech, destroying the coupling that connected the appendage to the body, while the other blew off one of the Mech's auto cannons. Each impact sight released a shockwave that ripped apart armor and myomer and anything else it touched. The Mech reeled from the hit, the shockwaves combining to knock the Mech over onto its side. He smiled as he watched the IFF signal fade off his sensors.

The transports pulled up inside the hangers of the two Dropships, mowing down the five points of infantry that stood there to defend the ships from just that. Shadow Company's own Elementals leapt from the transports and began a systematic search of the dropships' every room.

A few minutes after first entering the dropships they had cleaned out all Clan resistance and taken control of the two ships, leaving the crew alone. As the IFF codes of the Dropships changed to Shadow Company Fox decided to declare victory. "All surviving Clan combatants on this field of battle, you are hereby claimed as bondsmen, and your equipment I claim as Isorla. You all now serve Shadow Company, under my direct command."

"Aff Colonel McCloud… all forces, stand down. We are yours, sir."

"Captains, are your ships space worthy?" Fox asked the Clan Dropship captains.

"Aff sir. What are your orders?"

"Get up into orbit and connect with one of our ships, they will help you repair your ships. Hold there until further orders are given."

"Aff sir. We shall let off your Elementals and we shall be on our way."

**End Chapter 4**

Little bit longer chapter for me this time. Anyway, I still thank you for reading this thing and giving me support. I haven't gotten many reviews but those I have gotten give me support when I'm writing. And now for a little author's note… yes, I will be keeping those Mechs at the same power level… to make the Clans a threat I shall give them advanced technology also! I know it's not the most ingenious name but the Vulparian enemies that'll be helping the Clans are… now that I think about it, I don't think I'll tell you! Review responses!

Tremble Wolf: You won't be disappointed, this I promise!

Quote time! "If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which a procedure can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop." This (I think) is one of Murphy's laws. Review me!


	5. Chapter 5

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Welcome to another episode… er, I mean chapter, of Return of the Clans! Thank you for reading this story and (hopefully) the original! I have nothing else to say so we now move on to the chapter!

**Chapter 5**

Following Eric…

The three Outpost class Dropships touched down mere miles from the capital city he was to defend. He primed his Charged Particle Projection Cannons and stalked ahead of his fellow Clan warriors. Since Khan Ward had sent _exactly_ three stars of Mechs he had been forced to create his own command star of Vulparian MechWarriors. Mixed in with his forces were Vulparians, Shadow Company members, _and_ militia soldiers. "Just like Fox said… we are mixed in with his warriors." Eric remarked quietly.

As the order to fire went out from the command bunker, where Fox was located, he activated the three super weapons. Stabilizers dropped from the back of the clawed feet to clamp into the ground, securing the Mech in its firing position. The tail lengthened and opened up into triple heat sinks to cool the reactor after firing. The Diamond Dragon's jaws opened to reveal a gun barrel, and the two cannons on the back moved into firing positions, opening up to charge.

Bolts of electricity jumped from the three spears of the cannons on the Mech's back as they slowly closed, harnessing all that power into a single spot and creating what looked like a blue, swirling, and sparking ball of energy. The same happened with the gun in the jaws, without the spears. After a few more seconds of charging the energy was released in a giant blast of power. Even with the Mech stabilized by the clamps in the ground Eric had to fight to keep the Mech upright as the energy was released, especially since the Mech slid backwards on the pavement, the clamps doing the best they could to keep the Mech in place.

Eric was still inside the city perimeter but could see one of the Dropships that had touched down only two miles away in the hopes of taking the city quickly. That had been his target, and as the blue and white bolts of energy shot towards the Dropship he knew he had hit it. Now he just waited to see how much damage the Vulparian weapons would do.

He wasn't disappointed. The bolts of super charged lightning burned through the armor of the ship and punched straight into the reactor, forcing it to go critical and destroy the entire ship in giant blue, red, and white fireball. Everyone standing next to his Mech could clearly see the shockwave coming from the explosion of hundreds of tons of military equipment. "Impressive, Star Captain Wolf." One of the other Clansmen commented.

"Thank you. Though it was not my skill that earned me that kill. It is amazing what Vulparian technology can do for combat." He replied. "Come, we must ensure the same swift defeat to the other falcons."

"Aff sir!"

Following Fox…

"What's the damage report? How many turrets did they take down?" Fox asked, once again in the command and control room of the bunker.

"Uh… wow, only seven turrets destroyed beyond repair, but their were thirty two heavily damaged turrets and fifteen that were shut down due to damage." Megan replied, checking the list of damages incurred.

"And we have plenty of people to repair them and rebuild those seven. We did capture seventy four people, most of them technicians." Alison added.

"What's the list of captured equipment and personnel again?"

"… Ok, let's see… forty three technicians, thirty seven warriors, and I didn't include the dropship crews before but we captured thirty six crewmen. We also now have access to one-hundred-eighty-four tons of assorted ammunition, five light tanks, seven medium tanks, two heavy tanks, three assault tanks and three Mechs. We also managed to scrap together all usable armor off the battlefield which totaled seventy eight tons of usable armor." Alison rattled off.

"Don't forget the two Dropships." Cory added.

"Right, all in all a good days work. Alright everybody, get some rest. Tomorrow we move with the Vulparian units to the biggest base we have. It will become the base of operations for a while until these Falcons surrender or we wipe them off this planet." Fox ordered, rising from his chair to head to his own room.

He fell asleep easily and awoke the next day around sunrise. He ate quickly and loaded his things into a cargo truck that would be accompanying the small convoy to Okibi fire base. The command lance and the Vulparian forces left the Clan bondsmen and the regular Shadow Company units at around nine in the morning, moving as fast as possible since their path took them close to a suspected Outpost landing sight.

"Looks good so far…" Megan said, returning from her scouting mission. Rarely did something like this happen, so Fox was suspicious.

"We keep our guard up. It would be unlike a Clansman to attack without warning, but I have come to expect the unexpected. Everyone, weapons online and ready!"

Six hours later they hadn't run into any Clansmen yet, so they had stopped for a quick lunch. One of the cargo trucks had been turned into a kitchen, and now everyone except those on guard were filling up their plates with chicken fried rice. Fox was one of those on guard, however Megan had been kind enough to bring him a bowl of the delicious food.

He had just about finished when several blips appeared on his sensors. They had IFF signals saying they were neutral, but he knew the only forces on this planet were his and the enemy's. "Attention unidentified units. You are ordered to halt immediately and identify yourselves. Failure to comply will be viewed as hostility and you _will_ be fired upon."

Amazingly the five blips stopped moving. "This is Star Commander Hazen. I seek permission to speak with Colonel McCloud of Shadow Company."

"I am speaking with you currently, what is it you wish to speak _about_?" The combat personnel were already preparing for combat, abandoning their rice and priming weapons.

"I have been asked to speak with you about a… peaceful outcome to this conflict." She sounded upset, perhaps Fox could find out why.

"Oh? How could we resolve this peacefully? We have been hired to defend this planet to the best of our ability, what could you offer in return for our betrayal to our employer?" It was fairly obvious that he wouldn't be accepting any kind of payment from them, but he wanted to know what they were offering.

"In return for this… betrayal, we offer every soldier on this planet." She sighed.

Fox was surprised to say the least. He composed himself quickly though. "Neg, we can not accept that. We are honor-bound to defend this planet, not just because we are being employed to do so, but because we never break a promise. It is our honor, not the paycheck we shall receive, that keeps us here."

"I see. Very well then, I shall inform my superiors. Good day to you, Colonel McCloud."

The five blips began moving away from the short-term camp, heading for the suspected location of the Outpost Dropship. "What are your orders Colonel?" A Vulparian tank officer asked.

"… We move out; now!" He replied.

They managed to reach the base that day, though it was pitch black by the time they had demobilized the convoy. They slept easy, though they were ready to wake up and go into battle at any time.

By morning they had woken up and eaten breakfast. And about seven they got a transmission from Star Colonel Iesta Roshak. "Ah, good to see you alive and well Colonel McCloud! Though I am sorry that you did not wish to end this peacefully I respect your decision."

"And you call yourself a Clansman…" He mumbled.

"What was that?" She asked. He repeated his statement, louder this time. "How dare you! You are a mercenary! You have no honor, despite what Star Commander Hazen has said! You have stained my honor Colonel McCloud, and now you shall pay!" The transmission cut out soon after, and Fox could see that he had really pissed her off. Her entire face was read from anger in the last moments of the transmission.

"All personnel prepare for battle." He ordered through the PA system. Alarms began sounding soon after his order and the defensive turrets emerged from their concealed locations to begin defensive swiveling. "Let's get to our Mechs, fast." He added as several dropships lifted off from their previous locations, obviously heading for fire base Okibi.

They prepared for combat quickly and were waiting at the main entrance to the base. They had brought one Anti Dropship tank with them, so they had a little protection at least.

The Mechs of the base had mobilized and were standing with the command lance. Three lances of Mechs and six of tanks were now defending this fire base. Three of the tank lances were Vulparian made. Within the hour five Dropships came within firing range of the AD tank.

The tank's warship class weapon targeted one of the Outposts and charged up an attack. The energy leapt from the barrel of the tank's main gun to pierce through the target ship's armor. The Outpost Dropship burst into a giant fireball in the sky, coming crashing down onto the ground in front of the base. But that would be the only shot the tank could make for a while, so now they had to deal with the other four dropships' payloads.

The four Outposts touched down around the flaming wreck of the first Dropship. Immediately they dropped their gantries and let out their forces. Fighters streaked across the base, attracting the attention of the turrets. Since the turrets were programmed to target the biggest threat they chased after the fighters, destroying several of them but not all of them.

The Dropships opened fire on the main gate, along with the other Clan forces. With that much firepower the gate was decimated in no time, and the Clan warriors poured into the base. Fox dropped a Corvis with his Gauss rifles, sending it down in a pile of flaming, twisted metal. Megan pumped one of her shells into a Glass Spider, blowing a gaping hole in its left chest and removing its Gauss Rifle arm entirely. The force of the explosion knocked the Mech over, but didn't destroy it.

Cory charged his PPC to the max and fired them into a Blood Kite. The pure energy blew a smoking hole into the Mech's shoulder and set off the missiles. The explosion that followed was huge, destroying the entire machine and damaging everything in reach of it. Alison's lasers burned into an Athena, ripping away armor and burning deep into the innards of the tank. It stopped moving and its IFF signal disappeared from sensors.

The regular Mechs opened fire, but their weapons weren't as devastating as the command lance. The Vulparian tanks fired next. Although they weren't as advanced as the command lance's weapons they were very effective against the Clan Mechs. Just from those tanks' weapons several tanks and Mechs fell, including a Stone Rhino, a Heimdall, a Morrigu, and a Savage Coyote.

The fall of so many of their warriors rattled the Clan forces enough to make them fall back slightly, however they quickly organized a counter attack. An Arcas' lasers ripped into the lightly armored hide of a Vulparian Scout Sled; the weakest of all Vulparian battle implements it only carried one ton of armor to cover its entire body and reactor. The armor melted easily into a puddle of shiny, sticky metal, and the SRMs punched into the reactor. The advanced Vulparian reactor detonated in a massive explosion that sent a shockwave out from the very light vehicle, shattering human armor that had been near the source of the explosion.

"Shit!" One of the human tank crewmen yelled over the radio in surprise.

"Take down those Clanners!" Cory ordered, pumping his PPCs into the offending Arcas. The Mech was fully armored, and his PPCs weren't fully charged, thus he only damaged the Mech's shoulder. Still, molten armor streamed down the front of the Mech in a slow trickle, then solidified to beef up the armor beneath it.

Megan pumped another shell into the Arcas' leg. The high explosives held within the round did their job, blowing a gaping hole in the heavy Mech's leg and sending shrapnel in all directions. The Mech stumbled, crashing down on one knee while using one gun barrel to keep steady.

"Sir! Three more Dropships inbound!" Fox looked up just long enough to see the three Outposts approaching rapidly.

"Keep fighting! We don't stop till these guys are dead!" Alison ordered for him as she dropped a Night Gyr with a clean laser to the head.

Fox deactivated the part of the computer that told his guns how to behave in order to target two different enemies at once. One target was a Rabid Coyote, and his Vulparian Gauss rifle chewed into the shoulder of the Mech. The ATM system housed there detonated from the impact, sending the arm of the medium Mech and the Mech itself in two different directions. The Rabid Coyote tumbled to the ground onto a Hachiman, crushing the medium tank under its weight.

The second target was a Kingfisher; the shells ripped into its leg and tore away valuable armor. "Sir! We have several ships approaching from warp space, unknown classes!"

"Captain, blow them out of space!"

"Uh… little problem with that foxy. According to, one; the ship's computer, and two; the crew; those are Luparian warships. Who the heck are these 'Luparians' Fox?"

He didn't respond immediately, hearing 'Luparian' had frozen his nerves. She repeated his name and he snapped out of his daze. "Luparians are the sworn enemies of Vulparians, they were supposed to have been destroyed ages ago... take them down Captain! I don't want a single ship to survive to reach the planet's surface!"

"I'll do what I can, Colonel."

**End Chapter 5**

Thanks for putting up with me and my semi-slowness. I just have one question… why is Tremble Wolf the only one to have reviewed me so far? Where are you OgreWolf1?! Where are you Rouge Baron?! I miss you guys! ... sorry, my meds are wearing off again. Reviews!

Tremble Wolf: Of course I'll give them support! I respect the Clans; I used to play them in my league. Thanks!

Quote time! "If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving isn't for you." Or an alternate version. "If at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations."


	6. Chapter 6

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Welcome everyone! I have received reviews saying that I make things too… easy for my guys. Well guess what! This is where things get… tricky. With the introduction of the Luparians who have the same level, or in some cases higher, of technology; Shadow Company is going to be put to one extreme test, one not all of them are going to survive.

**Chapter 6**

Following Eric

Eric looked on at the flaming wreck of the Dropship his warriors had just decimated, wondering who the Luparians Fox was talking about were. He remembered something from his teachings at the combat school, but it was exactly what Fox had said; that they were the sworn enemies of the Vulparians. He had no idea what level of technology they held, but to be considered worthy enemies of the Vulparians they must have had at least their level.

"Colonel, three Dropships managed to elude our guns and enter the planet's atmosphere. Normally we would just chase them, but we've got our hands full with these Luparian Battleships. ETA is approximately twenty minutes." The transmission was filled with static, explosions, and crew members running around yelling orders. Apparently what she was saying was more true than not.

"What classes are they? Your ship's computer can tell you." Fox asked; his own transmission filled with explosions big and small.

"… We have two Okami classes and a Warlord class. Shit! Take evasive action! Rotate 180 degrees starboard! Increase rate of fire to maximum, I don't want anything to get in range of this ship!"

"Damn… alright listen up! I want all non Vulparian Mechs to take shelter immediately, the same goes for all non Vulparian vehicles. Bring all turrets online and pray that's enough to hold them off until a Vulparian unit makes it to your position."

"Colonel McCloud, this is Star Captain Wolf. Are you saying Clan Wolf's warriors are inferior to these Luparians?" Eric asked, forgetting the majority of his past for that moment.

"Neg, my friend. Your warriors are far superior to Luparians; it is their technology that puts them above the Clans. If your Clan forces were to face them in combat they would die a useless, swift death. I would rather have them available to pilot salvaged Luparian Mechs than dead in their own Mechs."

"I see… all Clan Wolf in Exile warriors are to take cover in the bunker."

"… Aff, Star Captain."

"We shall remain with you Star Captain. Five Vulparian Mechs against the Luparians should be fairly equal."

"Now that you are done chatting, let us get ready for what is to come. Each Okami Dropship carries about fifteen Mechs and twenty vehicles. They also come with two companies of Luparian infantry personnel, keep an eye on them. The Warlord Dropship carries only ten Mechs but it makes up for that with thirty vehicles and four companies of infantry." Fox informed everyone.

Eric heard the sirens sound in his Mech's cockpit as the first Luparian Dropship entered his sensor range. Then he noticed that all three of them were heading for the Capital. "Colonel McCloud, it appears that they too want this planet. According to my sensors they are heading for this location."

"Right, I shall leave the regular Mechs to deal with the Clan warriors and head to your location with every available Vulparian warrior. Hold them as long as you can."

"Aff." He answered even as he locked his Mech in place, charging the guns to attempt to destroy the Warlord. Blue light streaked up and down the spinning barrels, focusing in the tip as the three spikes converged. Just like last time the pure energy leapt from the barrel, streaking for the target Warlord.

Unlike last time, however, the Dropship didn't explode entirely. The lightning impacted dead center of the Dropship, blowing out a large section of the ship's armor and knocking it slightly off course. The ship's captain was skilled and got the ship back under his control well before landing, though the hole in the armor was smoking profusely. It touched down roughly and dropped its gantries simultaneously with the Okami Dropships.

Eric's Mech's reactor cooled rapidly and he pushed it to charge another shot. "Careful Star Captain, we still are not sure the limitations of that Mech's reactor, or the cannons."

He growled but acknowledged the warning by slowing down the charge rate to keep the reactor in the safe zone. He fired it once it was fully charged, the recoil of the super charged particles sending the Mech skidding backwards in the soft soil. He hit the same spot, burning deeper into the ship's hull but still not touching the reactor. "How much armor do those ships have!?" He yelled, clearly annoyed at the limited damage his cannons were doing.

Flames burst from the ship's innards, showing he had at least hit something of minor importance. But that was where things turned sour for him. A fast, light Mech of Luparian design darted in close to his Mech, bringing a heavy hatchet down on the Diamond Dragon's neck and damaging several control systems.

"Ah!" Sparks exploded from his control panel as the lights from his external cameras flickered off, cutting off almost all light in the cockpit. "Damn it, damn it, damn it..." It was right now he was wishing he had taken that Vulparian technician's advice and had let him show him how to repair control damage. He pulled off the control panel and started trying to hotwire the Mech, connecting random wires to see if anything would happen.

After what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes sparks again burst from the wires, burning his skin and coolant vest. The good thing was that it did the trick; gauges flickered on, as well as the screens that showed the outside battle. He sat back in his seat and took hold of his control sticks once again, surveying what had happened since he had lost visual contact with the battle.

Three of his four Vulparian star mates were dead, along with five Vulparian tanks and anywhere from one to two companies of infantry. His last star mate was holding off two Luparian Mechs, while his remaining Vulparian tanks were trying desperately to protect him from the infantry that was charging at him. That just left… "The Mechs!"

At that very time a PPC bolt struck at his flanks, burning into apparently damaged armor and sending a shockwave from the impact point. He did a quick systems check to find that two of his weapons were offline, but they were the two on the back and the problem of 'dead weight' was easily solved with the push of a button. Slamming his fist down on said button he jettisoned the heavy weaponry, allowing him to move more quickly, though still not fast enough to keep up with the Luparian Mechs.

He got an idea as another PPC burned into his chest, again sending a shockwave out in all directions and shattering more armor. He typed a few commands into the Diamond Dragon's computer and saw what he had hoped. The locks on the feet were now disabled, allowing him to move while firing; or so he hoped. He charged his remaining CPPC to the max and let it fire, the pure energy burning a smoldering hole in a Luparian Mech's chest. The raptor like Mech reeled from the hit, stumbling a few steps backward while trying to fire its PPC. Apparently the only reason the locks were installed was for when all three of the super weapons were fired at the same time.

Eric smiled as he recharged his CPPC, punching out again at the opposing Mech. His shot went wide slightly and burned deep into the Mech's arm, crippling the myomer that gave the metal appendage the ability to move. The Mech's torso twisted as the force of the blow knocked it around. A PPC shot from one of the tanks to impact the raptor Mech in the leg and forcing it to stumble into a small grove of trees.

Another Mech, this one much like Cory's, appeared from within the city to fire its PPC at him, the Luparian weapon's energy forcing its way deep into his leg and crippling it. The leg froze in a standing position, and Eric cursed trying to figure a way to move with it. A small blinking light alerted him to something he didn't know this Mech had. "Hover jets in the feet? Oh well, might as well give it a try." He tapped the light on his HUD and it shut off.

Almost immediately his other leg went to a standing position and he heard the Mech's reactor pushing hard to power something. Within a few moments the Mech rose a few feet off the ground, the reactor struggling to continue charging the CPPC and keep the Mech above the ground. "This… could come in very handy." He whispered, locking onto the offending Mech.

His single weapon punched into the Mech's shield and ripped apart the small weapon housed there while putting a very nice dent in the shield. His computer finally came back online fully and told him the names of the Mechs he was looking at. The one he was currently in battle with was called a Hybrid Knight, the raptor like one was a Ripper Raptor. The Hybrid Knight brought its main gun up again to fire the PPC into his arm, ripping apart armor, myomer, and random servos that powered the appendage. Flames burst from the wound, signaling the Luparian pilot had cut something important.

Another Mech emerged from the battle with his remaining Vulparian star mate, this one a Pack Leader quad Mech, much like Fox's Shadow Fox only more wolf like. The Mech's main guns targeted him and fired. The impact was astounding, and sent the Diamond Dragon to the ground in a crash. Sheets of armor shattered from the impact of the two shells, servos blew out from the small shockwave that rocked the Mech's body, myomer 'muscles' snapped from the force of the blow, and in all that the Mech was now crippled.

Seeing their current leader down and out the Vulparian units swarmed around him to prevent him from falling permanently, fending off everything that the Luparians threw at them with a ferocious attack of their own. The resident AD tank also got into the action from atop the hill Eric had ordered it to. The warship class weapon punched down into a Luparian assault Mech called an Obsidian Arrow. The Mech was completely obliterated; the reactor didn't even have time to detonate as everything was swallowed up by the energy blast.

Eric managed to get the Mech to stand, despite the frozen leg, and tried to reactivate the hover jets. "Warning, reactor damage detected. Unable to perform requested action. Movement cut by fifty percent. Weapons power cut by fifty percent. Heat level reaching critical level."

He shut down his weapons to prevent the reactor from going critical, but to his amazement a transmission came through at the same time. "This is Zorro lance, ETA is five minutes."

Eric looked out over the losing battle and mumbled. "I hope we can last that long…"

**End Chapter 6**

This is it! This is where I get serious. No more easy battles! No more "munchy" Mechs! (Whatever those are…) No more not listening to reviewers! I shall strive to be a good writer that can get lots of reviews! Now for those who were kind enough to review me last chapter!

Tremble Wolf: I have no clue why they aren't in the games! They're good Mechs; I picked them to be in the story for just that reason. My sources are and the Chaos March Battletech Archive. Though I doubt you'll be seeing many of the original Mechs from now on since its mostly a battle between the Luparians and Clan pilots in Luparian Mechs, and Shadow Company who'll be given Vulparian or salvaged Luparian Mechs.

Rouge Baron: Thank you, and I'm sorry for making it so easy in the first couple of chapters but I had to show off the extent of Vulparian technology. And I'm sorry about ignoring you, and straying from Battletech so much… and anything else I didn't mention. But like I said, No more easy battles! As demonstrated by this chapter! And only the Diamond Dragon is supposed to be able to do that in one shot… but I understand what you're saying. No, I don't take this as a flame, and yes, I am ready for more. Bring it on!

This is it; the Clans have gotten a major upgrade in technology thanks to the Luparians and are now on par with the Vulparians. Things will get difficult and interesting (hopefully) in the following chapters! I put this chapter up so soon because I wanted to show you that. "NO! I have not forgotten that easy battles make for boring story! I shall try to keep this story as interesting as possible, and if you review me I _shall_ listen to you and incorporate your suggestions as best I can!" Time for the quote!

"For every good there is an equal evil" PLEASE REVIEW ME!!!!! It's the only way I can improve and you know it…


	7. Chapter 7

**MechWarrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Hello, sorry for the long wait in posts but I wrote about five chapters before Christmas and was planning to post them then. Only thing is I was at my grandma's with no access to them, so I had to wait a few days to get back home to post. Then, like I do with all my chapters right before I post them, I checked them over to make sure they didn't have any errors or anything like that. I discovered that all five of them sucked ass and decided to try and revive them. After a few weeks of trying that out I found that they were beyond saving; and thus, I scrapped them. I also discovered that I had unwittingly hit writer's block by attempting to revive the older chapters. So this chapter and some others may suck, but not as badly as they would have. Thank you and have a nice day.

**Chapter 7**

"This is Zorro lance, ETA is five minutes." Captain Ikiryou informed Eric.

"Captain… why did you say we were only a lance strong?" Sergeant Omonjiru asked.

"Because, chances are the Luparians have been listening to his unit's comm. links. I want them to think they have little to fear from reinforcements." He replied, checking the status of his small battalion. His three Mech lances all checked out, the same with the heavy vehicles and skirmishers. The four transports, heavy with infantry, traveled along in the center of their formation. "Artillery, set up here and begin fire on my signal."

"Yes Captain."

"Skirmishers, I want you to scout ahead and send back anything you see. Do not engage any targets, I don't want them knowing we're here early." He ordered quickly.

A few moments later the skirmishers reported that they had found the main battle. "Sir, they don't know we're here and they apparently don't want to know… we haven't found a single target that isn't fighting."

"Good job Corporal Collins, hold fast and wait for the rest of us."

"Of course sir."

He pushed his human designed Mech into a slight run, just fast enough to get there quickly but slow enough for the heavy vehicles to keep up. His Shrike's wings lay folded on its back, and the auto cannon arm began priming its energy supply. The missiles had been removed in order to present a less inviting target, and the two lasers mounted on either side of the cockpit had been given a major upgrade to Vulparian standard, the same as the auto cannon.

The rest of his battalion sped up to stay with him, some of the lighter Mechs and vehicles running ahead of him to surprise the enemy and hit them in the rear while they had their guard down. As the fight came into view he gave one simple order… well, simple to his men. "Let's tear em' a new one!"

The skirmishers darted from their concealed locations to rake the Luparians with lasers and bullets, burning light wounds into their rear armor. Then the light tanks and Mechs rushed in to take advantage of the confusion caused by the skirmishers, their heavier weapons doing more damage than the scout class skirmishers'. The only Luparians to fall were an unlucky Dragon medium tank and a squad of light infantry that got caught up in a misfired missile barrage.

The Luparians reacted more quickly than Captain Ikiryou expected, rounding on the lighter tanks and Mechs with a vengeance. A Blood Diamond rounded on its axis, brining its main weapons to bear on a White Lightning. The Luparian assault Mech had twin heavy particle beams as its only ranged weapons, but those were still enough to turn armor into slag and blow off one of its arms. The light Mech reeled from the hit, dropping to the ground with a loud crash that shattered its shoulder mounted cannon.

A pair of modified Kite recon vehicles swooped in from the sides and raked the Luparians with their pulse lasers, not doing much damage but distracting them from the crippled White Lightning long enough for the Mech to make it back into the trees for some cover. The heavier Zorro Battalion units burst from the forest firing everything they had into the Luparians, who returned each shot.

Soldiers from both sides lost their lives, and since the Vulparians had been out numbered from the start they didn't try to just stand there and take the abuse. They employed hit-and-run attacks to get in some damage and get out quickly with minimal damage to themselves. Captain Ikiryou was at the front of the attacks every time, using his assault Mech's heavy armor to absorb some of the hits and keep his men alive as long as possible.

His lasers burned into a Black Jade medium Mech, crippling the target's leg but doing little else. A Werewolf assault tank moved in to take him down as quick as it could, and that might have been one shot if the gunner was good enough to make it to his position. "A little help would be greatly appreciated over here!"

"I'll do what I can sir."

One of the Kites from earlier rushed in, trailing thick black smoke and barely managing to stay above the ground on a crippled air skirt. "Collins? What the hell do you think you're…?" The light recon vehicle's driver had made up his mind; if he was dieing, he would go out blazing. The Kite picked up speed, amazing given the vehicle's damaged state, throwing out beams of golden energy again and again, each shot burning a little deeper into the assault tank's armor. Just as the Luparian driver realized his armor had been heavily damaged by a blitz attack the Kite struck, hard. Traveling at well over its intended speed the light vehicle had some major punch to it as it rammed the tank. The tank was lifted off its tracks from the force of the blow, which was closely followed by the Kite's reactor detonating and flipping it onto its side, with a gapping hole in its armor.

"Corporal… thank you. All Zorro battalion units, charge!" His Shrike's cannons belched flame and lead at the target Luparian Mech, the Blood Diamond reeling from the massive hit. All around Captain Ikiryou Vulparian forces emerged from the woods, letting everything they had go in a sort of firing squad that wreaked havoc on the Luparian forces. Mechs tumbled into heaps of scrap metal, tanks blew in an amazing display of fireworks, and infantry were thrown in every direction from the explosions.

The Luparians put out several Vulparian units as well; the most damage was taken by an Arch Angel assault tank as it was pounded by warheads that rained down on its armored shell. The crew managed to survive, but the tank would never fight again. A second Arch Angel moved up next to the smoldering remains of its brethren to pick up the crew with the help of some battle armor.

The fact that the Vulparians didn't back down as they usually did in battles between the two races seemed to have an effect on the Luparians, and they began pulling out and running for their Dropships. "Push them! Get them out of here now!" Captain Ikiryou shouted, and his forces responded with more weapons fire, and more force, than any Vulparian unit had put out in the majority of campaigns against the Luparians.

They could all hear on the open frequency the cries of alarm and the shouts of retreat from the Luparian soldiers, and after thirty minutes of fierce combat the Luparians were in full retreat. Captain Ikiryou stalked his Shrike up to Eric's Diamond Dragon. "Looks like you put up quite a fight."

"Unfortunately not as good as I had hoped… if my Mech had not been so badly damaged then maybe…" He began.

"Do not question what has happened, only what _will_ happen. You can not change the past, but the future is easily altered in one's favor… or thy enemy's. Let us see about finding a salvage track for your Mech, Star Captain." He interrupted.

**End Chapter 7**

Yes, short I know. But like I said, I hit writer's block. Time to respond to reviews!

RougeBaron: Thanks for that info, and thanks! And yes, some of these characters will "die"… I'll leave you to figure out what those quotations mean.

Geminidude1970: Thanks!

Alright, I'm going to do a little advertising here for a show I absolutely love that's on tonight… Mythbusters! Watch it… I command you to watch this show… … … why are you still here? Oh! The quote! … um… let's see… that's right! I put it in the story! I came up with it! Tell me what you think it is alright?


	8. Chapter 8

**Mech Warrior: Shadow Company**

**Return of the Clans**

Hello peoples! Welcome to another chapter of Return of the Clans.

**Chapter 8**

Eric stood with his fellow Clan warriors, going over what needed to be done to their Mechs for them to compete with the Luparian forces. Only nine wolves remained of the original pack, six had been killed in combat. "Star Commander Johnson, your Night Gyr will need Vulparian heavy PPCs in place of its own, along with Vulparian auto cannons and lasers."

"Aff sir. I will have my technicians begin upgrades at once." The younger man replied.

"Alright, does everybody know what needs to be done?" Eric looked around at his fellow Wolves, all nodded 'yes'. "Good. Dismissed." The group split up to talk with Vulparian ship crewmen and technicians about the required upgrades.

Fox stepped into the command room of the Kitsune, already partially upgraded to Vulparian tech. Still, it would take some time for the Overlord class Dropship to be able to take on a Luparian Dropship and put up any kind of fight. The armor had to be stripped and replaced; something that wasn't going to happen in a combat zone, the same with the weapons. The reactor needed to be removed and replaced also, in order to power all the Vulparian technology; and that could only happen in a ship yard.

Alison and Alexis were here, installing some new stations and upgrading the existing ones. Alexis was showing Alison how to rig up a comm. system. Alison had little-to-no training when it came to how things worked, but she was a quick learner and already was picking up which wires connected to which switch, and so on.

"How goes the upgrades Captain Lionel? I hope no one is getting in your way."

"Very good thank you… I was wondering when we'd need to upgrade this thing and it looks like now is as good a time as any. So far no one has gotten in my way, though that could change quickly." The old fox smiled.

A week passed, and all the while they were upgrading and repairing. Amazingly the Luparians didn't attack that whole time. Captain Roberts reported in that only one of the Luparian ships was left functioning, and that was only because it was an un-modified Jumpship, and therefore protected from attack. Instead of running back to base or reporting in, it simply stayed in orbit around the planet and waited for the three Dropships.

As the week they had allowed themselves to get up to combat readiness finished, they decided to strike at the Luparians before they struck first. "We leave a small force here to protect our Dropships and send the rest of our forces into the hornet's nest. Captain Ikiryou will take Zorro Company around to the left Okami, let out a company of infantry to take the ship, and hold position in case of emergency. Captain Johnson will do the same for the right Okami. We leave the wounded Warlord for them; it is not worth taking if we have to fight every last Luparian Warrior to get it. If we leave it to them, chances are that they will take what they can and escape. That will grant us salvage and two fully combat ready Dropships." Fox laid the plan out as they headed for the Luparian camp.

"Correct… but how is Elemental battle armor going to stand up to Luparian armor?" Alison asked.

"Simple, while we were upgrading everything I had the Elemental suits stripped of their human technology and replaced with Vulparian tech. They should be easily capable of handling Luparian soldiers." Eric answered.

"Alright, cut the chatter. Maintain radio silence until the word is given. All units, switch to active camo." Fox ordered just before they entered their enemy's sensor range.

It took them half an hour of careful moving to get into position for the assault. Zorro Company and Banshee Company split off from the Command Company, Alpha Company, and Bravo Company to head to their positions nearer the target Dropships. Another ten minutes to make sure they were ready and Fox gave the signal.

All the forces in the three companies switched off their active camo, revealing themselves to the Luparian Dropships. Guards posted in their powered down Mechs instantly reacted, bringing their weapons online and targeting those they could see. It was a little late for some of them as the Vulparian forces focused fire on those units that were moving. Infantry stormed the campground, taking over the make-shift barracks that the Luparians had constructed and killing those inside. Doing this would allow them more salvage and give the enemy a higher death rate.

Fox darted up to a Blood Diamond and pumped two armor piercing shells into its chest. The heavy armor cracked and shattered in places, but otherwise held against the close range blast. Just as the Mech's pilot tried to bring the buzz saw hand down on Fox's cockpit, he turned and darted away. The Shadow Fox's tail mounted cannon drew even with the Blood Diamond and fired a powerful blast of pure energy into the damaged armor, which melted instantly and turned into a river of molten metal.

Megan stood back, away from the front lines, sniping. Her high explosive rounds were causing mayhem on the battlefield. One round punched deep into a Red Dragon's shoulder. The Mech stumbled from the blast and fell onto a barracks, the dragon-like design allowed it to soak up the damage from the fall into its wings. However, as it was down, infantry decided to have a go at it, and swarmed the Mech's cockpit. She watched as the seal was broken and the pilot dragged out. She expected the wolf to be killed, seeing as the Vulparians and Luparians hated each other, but instead he was shackled and dragged into a transport vehicle.

Alison jumped around a small sensor tower to come face-to-face with a Battle Cobra, a Clan Mech obviously upgraded with Luparian technology. Her two lasers shot out at the Mech, burning blackened scars across its shoulder. The Mech responded with its PPCs, which she was unable to dodge due to the point blank range. The PPCs punched deep into her Mech's torso, the part that hung down below the head area. Fortunately the armor held well, easily resisting the powerful attack. She decided to try something that a wild cat would do; pounce. She jumped the Black Cat at the Battle Cobra, bringing the claws and fangs down on the Mech's head and shoulders. Apparently the Mech had been designed for such a maneuver, as the fangs were razor sharp and held against the head's armor. "That makes kill number five." She whispered, careful of her microphone.

Eric and Cory had been forced to stay behind for this battle; Cory in order to provide some sort of command structure, and Eric because his Mech was _still_ undergoing intensive repairs.

Ten minutes of combat and the only Luparian forces still fighting were those in the Dropships. All the barracks had been destroyed, most before any combatants could escape, and thus the Mechs, tanks, and other weapons sat unused. All any of them had to worry about was a shot from one of the Dropships.

"This is Zorro Company capture unit, objective completed. The Lightning is ours."

"This is Banshee Company capture unit, same here. The Thunder is ours."

"Attention Luparian Captain of the crippled Warlord. You are hereby given the chance to escape. I suggest you take it." Fox said over the open channel.

"This is Captain Lupine; you will have to take this Dropship by force if you wish me to cease firing on you!"

"Very well; all infantry, take that ship." It took another half an hour to deal with the infantry guards inside the Warlord, but finally the ship was taken.

"Sir, the Warlord is ours."

"Excellent. All forces, prepare for salvage and recovery. I want the transports to head back to camp and gather any MechWarriors who don't have a combat ready Mech and bring them here with some technicians." Fox ordered, and the order was acknowledged.

**End Chapter 8**

Sorry, short I know, but if I try to put anything more into this chapter it would be like putting two completely different things together and saying they're the same. Next chapter is my first and only attempt at politics, so any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated! I mean it; I know practically nothing about Politics in the MechWarrior universe.

Info I need to know: who likes who and who doesn't like who. Any alliances you can find. Any rivalries you can find. Any background info on possible ambassadors that may attend a counsel in the Republic. Any goals of any faction/great house/Clan that may come into play here.

Please, please, please! I need this info! I will wait a week or two to receive this info before posting. Review Responses!

Tremble Wolf: Thanks! And the only thing I'd take as a flame is if you yell at me/curse and not provide reasons for the outburst, and on top of that not suggest a way to improve my writing… and it's good to be back.

Alright! I need that info! And now for the quote, this one's patriotic! "Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God." Inscription on the side of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

God bless America!


	9. Chapter 9

**MechWarrior**

**Shadow Company**

Welcome to the first chapter of this story for a long while. I had originally had a dance with the ambassadors and knights in this chapter, but then I realized that was what was keeping me from writing; I've never been to a dance in my life! So I scrapped that entire chapter and started from scratch. This is the product of several attempted chapters compiled into a semi-coherent story line. Don't hurt me, please, I tried.

**Chapter Nine**

In the dead of night an unknown Vulparian Dropship descended onto the planet Terra. Painted pure black it was symbolic of Shadow Company, and it held their commanding officers. They had been summoned to a meeting of those _not_ allied with the Luparians.

This was a much smaller number of factions than one would have thought. For each group not allied with the wolves, there were at least two allied with them.

"We're gonna be late Alison!" Fox shouted to his friend, her door closed so she could get dressed. "We were supposed to be there in ten minutes, with you it'll take twenty and we'll be laughed out of the chamber!"

"Just a second! I've never worn these things before!" She hollered back.

"Megan, get in there and help her put the dress on." Fox said, motioning for the guys to turn around and opening the door. Megan slipped in quickly and shut the door behind her.

It took only one minute longer for the two to come out. "Bout time." Cory remarked from beside the door. "But we'll still be late. Unless…?" He looked to Fox with a grin.

Fox sighed. "Alright Cory, you can drive the Fox. Just, try not to kill anyone, alright?"

"Yes sir!" Cory darted for the hanger, anxious to drive the Fox armored car that served as the command's transport vehicle. It was better than a bullet-proof limo and faster too. Add to the fact that no one is going to get in the way of an armored car going full speed ahead they'd get there in a very short time.

The five piled into the armored car and Cory took the wheel. The vehicle roared to life and lifted off the ground on its hover system. It shot out of the Dropship's hanger and into the exit ramp leading to the grand hall the Republic used as its meeting chambers.

The Fox slid into the drive with ease and the back hatch opened. It had only taken seven minutes to get here. If anyone else had been driving… it would have taken twenty. "Thank god that ride is over…" Megan sighed as she was helped down by Eric from the vehicle. Fox helped Alison and Cory just jumped down the foot or so to the ground.

The five friends walked into the chambers almost too late. However, they quickly took their seats near each other. Megan, Cory and Eric were acting as guards for Fox and Alison. Clan wolf already had a representative and thus Eric was not needed in that area and the other two had virtually no position of power except as a commanding officer of Shadow Company.

"Well, I believe that all are present now so let us begin this council." The Exarch greeted. "If you would, please give us a short history of the Luparian people, Sir McCloud.

Fox stood and bowed as a dim light was cast upon him. "The Luparians and Vulparians have been at war constantly since encountering each other in space. They took the ambassador's vessel prisoner on that first meeting and forced the crew into slave labor at their munitions factories. We tried peaceful ways of getting the crew returned but ultimately we were forced to go to war to rescue them. The Luparians are a ruthless people that think only of themselves. They care nothing of those they have allied with as long as they don't cause too much trouble. If they do… they get turned into food for the soldiers."

Stunned gasps resounded through the large chamber and the Exarch was forced to call order. "Do not be fooled; these wolves _will_ kill and eat just about anything that moves so long as it isn't deadly to do so. That includes those who have fallen in battle, though the one thing they will not eat is each other. As previously said they care only for others of their own kind."

"Thank you Sir McCloud… that is definitely enough of this gruesome history lesson…" Fox nodded and returned to his seat. "But now a new question has formed in my mind… why come here? If they were already fighting you why would they come after humans who pose virtually no threat to them at all?"

Fox stood again. "Because they weren't fighting us… a few dozen years ago they vanished from their planets. We've been searching for them ever since then but have not found where they traveled to. I believe they came here because they sensed your… pardon me saying this but 'weakness' and wanted to take you and your planets for themselves."

"I see…" Fox again returned to his seat. "So now a new question… who here would rather fight the Luparians than join them?" Hands rose all throughout the chamber and the Exarch continued. "I see… Sir McCloud; how long would it take to bring the human race up to speed with the combat technologies possessed by your people?"

"For all humans… I would have to say minimum of a year, probably much more." He responded without standing.

"Hmmm… is there any way we can fight them now? If this assault continues the human race will be completely enslaved well before we can fight back effectively."

Fox thought for a second before realizing something. "Well… there is _one_ way to get combat ready Mechs and equipment into human hands sooner…" He slowly offered. "With the threat of a surprise attack by the Luparians on any of the Vulparian planets high we stockpiled several thousand tons of war equipment on all our planets… it is older technology but still effective against what I have seen of the Luparian Mechs."

Murmurs rushed through the assembled ambassadors and again the Exarch was forced to call order. "How long would it take to get those supplies here?" He asked once order was established again.

"Only a few weeks if I send word today. We also have a repository of warships that we could send to allies." Fox responded.

"Excellent!" The older human exclaimed. "Send word immediately that we require every available piece of equipment and anyone with knowledge of its workings here to bring the Republic and her allies up to combat effectiveness. This counsel is dismissed for now; we will reconvene in two days to hear of the decision."

Ambassadors shuffled out of the chamber as Fox pulled out his radio. "Captain, I need you to send word to the Great Fox II. Give Captain Roberts this message to send to Vulparian command; Prince McCloud has need of any war supplies available to be shipped to the Republic at the earliest time available. Any warships available are also requested."

"Yes sir Colonel."

They climbed into the Fox armored car and darted back to the Great Fox dropship docked in the main space-port.

The next two days were hectic as Fox coordinated with the Vulparian command for the supplies to be shipped and escorted by the donation warships. Even some of the regular army was being sent to help secure the Republic's capital; Terra.

"What is the word Sir McCloud?" The Exarch asked as the counsel reformed at the end of the two days.

Fox stood with a small smile. "Vulparian high command has authorized the sending of ninety percent of the stored supplies and equipment on most of the Vulparian planets. Also, all warships in storage have been given skeleton crews to bring them here to be gifted to the Republic and her allies to be used against the Luparian threat." Cheers rose from the assembled ambassadors as he sat.

"Quiet! Please. Thank you. This is a wondrous turn of events Sir McCloud. I hope to see Vulparian Mechs in the hands of our best pilots soon. This Counsel is dismissed until further notice."

**End Chapter Nine**

Sorry for the shortness but I'm not good at political stuff. I know much of it may suck and I'm sorry for that in advance. Now for review responses!

Thank you RogueBaron and Kat Wylder for your help and support in this attempt. I promise to keep these sites bookmarked for future use and please feel free to tell me if I screw up in any way. And as always thanks to Tremble Wolf for your constant reviews.

And as for your question, here is the answer; no, that is not a quote from any movie. It is the inscription on the side of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier; a tomb that holds the ashes of United States soldiers that have lost their names due to their injuries in battle. The tomb is guarded day and night by the honor guards at Arlington National Cemetery. Those guys are awesome, and they deserve a medal just for being honor guards. Now for this chapter's quote…

"God bless the soldiers. Those who fight for freedom. Not only for those trapped back at home, but for those who never knew the feeling. The feeling of being free. The feeling of being able to do what you were meant to be able to do. The feeling granted by law in some places. God bless the soldiers."

I doubt that is anything you all have heard, but still it sits heavily in my heart. Both my grandparents were on the front lines; one even fought on the beaches of Normandy. I am proud to be able to call them my family. God bless all who fight for freedom.


End file.
